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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25122367">how to capture a heart</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshine_locks/pseuds/sunshine_locks'>sunshine_locks</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, the result of my imagination going on overdrive</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:14:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,437</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25122367</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshine_locks/pseuds/sunshine_locks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Victoire was a first year university student, and Teddy was the babysitter Fleur hired for Louis.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Bill Weasley/Fleur Delacour, Teddy Lupin/Victoire Weasley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>how to capture a heart</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>January 29, 2019</p><p>(4:15 p.m.) <em>heyo</em></p><p>(4:15 p.m.) <em>do you know where the allergy meds are?</em></p><p>(4:16 p.m.) <em>louis is sneezing and sniffling and poor baby is suffering really badly :-(</em></p><p>(4:20 p.m.) <strong>uh</strong></p><p>(4:20 p.m.) <strong>i think in the top cabinet nearest to the kitchen’s entrance</strong></p><p>(4:20 p.m.) <strong>not exactly sure though</strong></p><p>(4:25 p.m.) <em>just checked, it’s there</em></p><p>(4:26 p.m.) <strong>:-((( is he okay?</strong></p><p>(4:27 p.m.) <em>yeah, he’s doing a little bit better</em></p><p>(4:28 p.m.) <em>stopped crying and his nose stopped leaking like a faucet lol</em></p><p>(4:29 p.m.) <em>he will live :-)</em></p><p>(4:31 p.m.) <strong>oh thank god</strong></p><p>(4:44 p.m.) <strong>by the way, who is this?</strong></p><p>(4:45 p.m.) <strong>like, i know mum and dad hired a babysitter for louis because of their jobs, but uh</strong></p><p>(4:45 p.m.) <strong>i don’t think we’ve met</strong></p><p>(4:50 p.m.) <em>…victoire, i cannot BELIEVE</em></p><p>(4:51 p.m.) <strong>:-(</strong></p><p>(4:53 p.m.) <em>we literally met before you moved back to your dorm when the holidays ended!!!!</em></p><p>(4:54 p.m.) <strong>OH</strong></p><p>(4:55 p.m.) <strong>TEDDY</strong></p><p>(4:56 p.m.) <em>lovely to know you know my name</em></p><p>—</p><p>February 23, 2019</p><p>(6:17 p.m.) <em>do you know where the markers are?</em></p><p>(6:17 p.m.) <em>better yet, do you have markers?</em></p><p>(6:27 p.m.) <strong>i don’t think so my dude</strong></p><p>(6:27 p.m.) <strong>we used to, but we threw them all out when they dried up lol</strong></p><p>(6:28 p.m.) <em>oh</em></p><p>(6:28 p.m.) <em>louis really wants to draw with markers right now for some reason</em></p><p>(6:28 p.m.) <em>and y’all have got colored pencils but no markers</em></p><p>(6:30 p.m.) <strong>pretty sure that the shop around the corner has some good ones though, surprisingly enough. they’re really cheap and it’s like a 5 minute walk</strong></p><p>(6:31 p.m.) <strong>take louis if you’re going to go though</strong></p><p>(6:32 p.m.) <em>what kind of babysitter do you take me for that you think i’d leave him at home, what the fuck???</em></p><p>(6:35 p.m.) <strong>you never know</strong></p><p>(6:36 p.m.) <strong>by the way has louis finished his homework?</strong></p><p>(6:38 p.m.) <strong>if you’re letting him draw, i assume that he has</strong></p><p>(6:40 p.m.) <em>…</em></p><p>(6:41 p.m.) <strong>TEDDY</strong></p><p>(6:43 p.m.) <em>i’m sorry i couldn’t help it!!!</em></p><p>(6:43 p.m.) <em>it was his damned puppy eyes and pouty lips!!!!</em></p><p>(6:44 p.m.) <strong>ughhh i guess i get that</strong></p><p>(6:44 p.m.) <strong>louis’ puppy eyes are in fact irresistible</strong></p><p>(6:45 p.m.) <strong>when you want him to do his homework bribe him with those cookies we have in the pantry</strong></p><p>(6:45 p.m.) <strong>double chocolate chip are his absolute favorite</strong></p><p>(6:45 p.m.) <strong>i could ask him to kill a person for them and he’d probably do it lol</strong></p><p>(7:01 p.m.) <em>sorry, i just came back home from the store</em></p><p>(7:02 p.m.) <em>you bribe your brother, the fuck?</em></p><p>(7:05 p.m.) <strong>hey, sometimes you need to do what you need to do, and louis is more than a handful</strong></p><p>(7:07 p.m.) <em>yeah, that’s fair</em></p><p>—</p><p>March 24, 2019</p><p>(4:20 p.m.) <em>oh my god tori</em></p><p>(4:21 p.m.) <em>your little brother is so metal</em></p><p>(4:21 p.m.) <em>wait till you hear what louis did today</em></p><p>(4:39 p.m.) <strong>i just saw this, i was taking a nap</strong></p><p>(4:39 p.m.) <strong>but bruh what fuckshit did he get into this time</strong></p><p>(4:40 p.m.) <em>okay so</em></p><p>(4:40 p.m.) <em>so i was picking louis up from school, right? and like, usually he’s pretty chill, but today???? he had a bruise??? on his nose???</em></p><p>(4:42 p.m.) <strong>omg is he okay?</strong></p><p>(4:44 p.m.) <em>yeah, he’s good. i broke out the first-aid kid and bandaged him up :-)</em></p><p>(4:45 p.m.) <em>but anyways</em></p><p>(4:45 p.m.) <em>this kid</em></p><p>(4:45 p.m.) <em>i thought he got into a petty fight, you know, as kids do</em></p><p>(4:45 p.m.) <em>BUT NOT LOUIS. HE FUCKINF GOT INTO A FIGHT DEFENDING A BOY WHO GOT CALLED A GIRL FOR WEARING SKIRTS TO SCHOOL</em></p><p>(4:47 p.m.) <strong>omgggg</strong></p><p>(4:47 p.m.) <strong>i always knew i raised that boy RIGHT</strong></p><p>(4:48 p.m.) <em>i love him</em></p><p>(4:48 p.m.) <em>he’s so freaking precious :-(((</em></p><p>(4:50 p.m.) <strong>so do i :-(((</strong></p><p>(4:55 p.m.) <strong>we’re telling my ma that he fell to the ground accidentally and got bruised, right</strong></p><p>(4:56 p.m.) <em>absolutely, the fuck</em></p><p>(4:56 p.m.) <em>i do not have a death wish today, not even a fucking little</em></p><p>(4:58 p.m.) <strong>sdkfjclkajsd</strong></p><p>(4:58 p.m.) <strong>glad we’re on the same page</strong></p><p>—</p><p>April 30, 2019</p><p>(4:29 a.m.) <em>fuckkkk</em></p><p>(4:30 a.m.) <em>i can’t stop thinking about you</em></p><p>(4:30 a.m.) <em>you’re so fuckinf pretty</em></p><p>(4:30 a.m.) <em>i want you so bad</em></p><p>(4:31 a.m.) <em>come over</em></p><p>(4:32 a.m.) <em>let me fuck those pretty tits</em></p><p>(4:35 a.m.) <strong>BRO????</strong></p><p>(4:35 a.m.) <strong>imagine my fucking surprise when i decided to take a break from my diff eq homework and see this fuckery</strong></p><p>(4:40 a.m.) <em>HOLY FUCK</em></p><p>(4:40 a.m.) <em>I’M SO SORRY ALDJFLJVK</em></p><p>(4:41 a.m.) <em>OH MY GOD PLEASE IGNORE THAT</em></p><p>(4:42 a.m.) <em>IT WAS MEANT FOR SOMEONE ELSE</em></p><p>(4:42 a.m.) <em>I’M SO EMBARASSED</em></p><p>(4:43 a.m.) <strong>lol clearly</strong></p><p>(4:43 a.m.) <strong>it’s fine, i don’t mind much</strong></p><p>(4:44 a.m.) <strong>hope she’s hot though</strong></p><p>(4:45 a.m.) <strong>sounds like she is from how worked up you are for her</strong></p><p>(4;46 a.m.) <em>SKCJSKXJSKSJSK</em></p><p>(4:47 a.m.) <strong>teddy</strong></p><p>(4:47 a.m.) <strong>teddy????</strong></p><p>(4:48 a.m.) <strong>TEDDY??????</strong></p><p>(4:55 a.m.) <strong>oh my fuckin god he fuckin dead</strong></p><p>—</p><p>May 4, 2019</p><p>(6:17 p.m.) <em>hi</em></p><p>(6:18 p.m.) <strong>hello</strong></p><p>(6:18 p.m.) <strong>have you finally recovered from whatever that was lol</strong></p><p>(6:20 p.m.) <em>not quite lmao</em></p><p>(6:20 p.m.)<em> i’ve written it out of my mind, so</em></p><p>(6:21 p.m.) <strong>i have one question</strong></p><p>(6:22 p.m.) <em>hm</em></p><p>(6:23 p.m.) <strong>did you end up getting any</strong></p><p>(6:25 p.m.) <em>see, i wanna pretend that you didn’t ask that in my efforts to put this in the past but uh</em></p><p>(6:26 p.m.) <em>no, i did not get any</em></p><p>(6:27 p.m.) <em>turns out accidentally sexting your employer’s daughter doesn’t get /or/ keep your dick hard</em></p><p>(6:27 p.m.) <em>which is unfortunate since i had to explain to the poor girl after sexting for like a good half hour that i just wasn’t into it anymore after making it very clear that! i! was!</em></p><p>(6:28 p.m.) <strong>hope she doesn’t take it too seriously for both your sake’s</strong></p><p>(6:28 p.m.) <strong>ALSO</strong></p><p>(6:29 p.m.) <strong>“employer’s daughter”????</strong></p><p>(6:30 p.m.) <strong>i think after that whole incident we can solidly call ourselves friends</strong></p><p>(6:31 p.m.) <strong>it literally had me in stitches. /still/ has me in stitches LMAO</strong></p><p>(6:32 p.m.) <em>yeah, that’s fair. friends it is, then :-)</em></p><p>(6:32 p.m.) <em>also</em></p><p>(6:32 p.m.) <em>take a look at these</em></p><p>(6:34 p.m.) Attachment: 3 images</p><p>(6:34 p.m.) <em>louis and i made cookies today!</em></p><p>(6:35 p.m.) <strong>AWW</strong></p><p>(6:35 p.m.) <strong>he decorated them so well</strong></p><p>(6:35 p.m.) <strong>a true Artist™</strong></p><p>(6:35 p.m.) <strong>but also</strong></p><p>(6:35 p.m.) <strong>what are they supposed to be</strong></p><p>(6:36 p.m.) <em>lmao he says he made his family</em></p><p>(6:36 p.m.) <em>the one with a shit ton of powder blue (edible) glitter is auntie fleur, the one with all the frosted red lines for hair is bill, the one wearing a green dress is minnie and</em></p><p>(6:37 p.m.) <strong>wait, there’s only two left…</strong></p><p>(6:38 p.m.) <strong>which one am i</strong></p><p>(6:39 p.m.) <em>he says the short one is you and the last one left is me lol</em></p><p>(6:39 p.m.) <strong>HE DID NOT</strong></p><p>(6:39 p.m.) <strong>THE LITTLE SHIT</strong></p><p>(6:39 p.m.) <em>but he totally did tho</em></p><p>(6:40 p.m.) <strong>has louis SEEN you?</strong></p><p>(6:40 p.m.) <strong>5’0’’ motherfucker</strong></p><p>(6:40 p.m.) <strong>i’m literally seven inches taller than you!!!!</strong></p><p>(6:41 p.m.) <em>i’m going to ignore that jab in favor of asking whether you would like to know something</em></p><p>(6:41 p.m.) <strong>what</strong></p><p>(6:42 p.m.) <em>“tori’s going to be so mad if she knows i made her the shortest cookie on purpose”</em></p><p>(6:42 p.m.) <em>this was paired with the most tooth rotting smile, by the way</em></p><p>(6:43 p.m.) <strong>come june, louis’ ass will formally meet my foot</strong></p><p>(6:43 p.m.) <em>LMAO</em></p><p>—</p><p>May 20, 2019</p><p>(3:01 a.m.) <strong>tedyyyy</strong></p><p>(3:01 a.m.) <strong>***teddyyyy</strong></p><p>(3:02 a.m.) <strong>yoi went to university righ</strong></p><p>(3:02 a.m.) <em>not quite, but go on</em></p><p>(3:02 a.m.) <strong>tell me why</strong></p><p>(3:03 a.m.) <em>ain’t nothin’ but a heartacheee</em></p><p>(3:04 a.m.) <em>haha, i’m sorry, i had to</em></p><p>(3:04 a.m.) <em>it’s also three in the morning, and i’m tired as fuck</em></p><p>(3:04 a.m.) <em>but yeah what’s up</em></p><p>(3:05 a.m.) <strong>don’t worryyy you took a chanecv when you saw iy</strong></p><p>(3:05 a.m.) <em>wait… are you drunk right now</em></p><p>(3:05 a.m.) <strong>matbe iam</strong></p><p>(3:05 a.m.) <strong>wahts it to yoy</strong></p><p>(3:05 a.m.) <strong>BUT ANYWAYS</strong></p><p>(3:06 a.m.) <strong>my fuckinf professor</strong></p><p>(3:06 a.m.) <strong>gavE ME A DUCKING 40 ON MY CALC 3 EXMA</strong></p><p>(3:07 a.m.) <strong>*****FUCKING</strong></p><p>(3:07 a.m.) <strong>i’m sop issed</strong></p><p>(3:07 a.m.) <strong>so now ive gotta study even harder for this fcukinf final</strong></p><p>(3:08 a.m.) <strong>AND DID I TELL YOU</strong></p><p>(3:09 a.m.) <strong>MY DIFF EQ PROF PUT A GODAMNDE QUESTION MARK ON MY EXAM AND GVAE ME A FAT ZERO</strong></p><p>(3:09 a.m.) <em>that’s rough</em></p><p>(3:09 a.m.) <em>is there anything you can do in the morning to make the situation better?</em></p><p>(3:10 a.m.) <strong>fucckk the profesor for real</strong></p><p>(3:10 a.m.) <strong>small . Dick flat Ass .</strong></p><p>(3:11 a.m.) <em>…. what</em></p><p>(3:12 a.m.) <strong>you dont have to woeey about my i’ll take care of it buttt</strong></p><p>(3:12 a.m.) <em>okay, that’s good.</em></p><p>(3:12 a.m.) <em>by the way, where are you</em></p><p>(3:13 a.m.) <strong>you wouldn’t be able to come here anyewya even if you wanted to keep me saef</strong></p><p>(3:13 a.m.) <strong>i’m so manyy hours away!!!! :-(((</strong></p><p>(3:13 a.m.) <em>worth a try isn’t it?</em></p><p>(3:14 a.m.) <strong>yeah</strong></p><p>(3:14 a.m.) <strong>i’m in my dorm</strong></p><p>(3:14 a.m.) <strong>haha there’s a traffic one in here</strong></p><p>(3:15 a.m.) <strong>wait</strong></p><p>(3:15 a.m.) <strong>i think i stole it</strong></p><p>(3:15 a.m.) <em>what the FUCK</em></p><p>(3:16 a.m.) <em>tori!!!!</em></p><p>(3:16 a.m.) <em>tori you can’t just steal shit much less traffic cones!!!</em></p><p>(3:20 a.m.) <em>do NOT fucking leave me on read right now</em></p><p>(3:21 a.m.) <strong>it’s fineeee</strong></p><p>(3:22 a.m.) <strong>i wasn’t caught anyeway</strong></p><p>(3:23 a.m.) <em>oh my god you are going to be the complete death of me</em></p><p>(3:23 a.m.) <strong>i can be youre devil</strong></p><p>(3:23 a.m.) <strong>or your angle!!!!!</strong></p><p>(3:24 a.m.) <em>go to bed tori</em></p><p>(3:25 a.m.) <strong>okieee</strong></p><p>(3:25 a.m.) <strong>lov yoi</strong></p><p>(3:26 a.m.) <em>have a good night. love you too</em></p><p>—</p><p>May 21, 2019</p><p>(12:10 p.m.) <em>so at any point are we going to talk about what happened the other day</em></p><p>(12:11 p.m.) <strong>no</strong></p><p>(12:11 p.m.) <em>now that’s hardly fair</em></p><p>(12:11 p.m.) <em>you didn’t let me forget</em></p><p>(12:12 p.m.) <strong>fuck.</strong></p><p>(12:12 p.m.) <strong>you know what, whatever, i owe you an apology. sorry for drunk texting you at three a.m. and i’m sorry if I woke you up</strong></p><p>(12:13 p.m.) <em>you didn’t wake me up</em></p><p>(12:13 p.m.) <em>i usually can’t fall asleep until i knock out anyways</em></p><p>(12:13 p.m.) <strong>that’s not healthy at all</strong></p><p>(12:13 p.m.) <em>eh. but i just wanted to check up on you, is everything okay? you seemed really angry and sad</em></p><p>(12:13 p.m.) <strong>ah, yeah</strong></p><p>(12:14 p.m.) <strong>i pulled an all-nighter for my diff eq exam which made my answers really incomprehensible, whoops</strong></p><p>(12:14 p.m.) <strong>so thankfully my prof is allowing me to retake it in like three days which is on a Friday night and like that’s more added stress onto my already full plate</strong></p><p>(12:15 p.m.) <strong>but unfortunately my calc exam really do be a lost cause so i’ll have to study extra hard :^///</strong></p><p>(12:15 p.m.) <strong>it’s better than nothing i suppose</strong></p><p>(12:16 p.m.) <em>that’s good to know. the calc exam thing sucks though. i wish you luck on it, sounds hard as fuck</em></p><p>(12:16 p.m.) <em>and</em></p><p>(12:16 p.m.) <strong>and?</strong></p><p>(12:16 p.m.) <em>did you return the traffic cone</em></p><p>(12:17 p.m.) <strong>…………... yes</strong></p><p>(12:17 p.m.) <em>lmao okay that’s good to know, i was high key concerned</em></p><p>(12:18 p.m.) <em>also, i’m not sure it’d cheer you up much, but here’s louis saying some encouraging words</em></p><p>(12:20 p.m.) Attachment: 1 video</p><p>(12:21 p.m.) <strong>FUCK</strong></p><p>(12:21 p.m.) <strong>now i’m crying. i really want to see louis and minnie again</strong></p><p>(12:22 p.m.) <em>it’s okay to cry. is everything really okay over there?</em></p><p>(12:23 p.m.) <strong>i don’t know first semester sucked ass and then i thought second semester would be better but it sucked even more ass</strong></p><p>(12:23 p.m.) <strong>the three weeks i had with my family for christmas break weren’t enough and it made me miss them more and i couldn’t come back for the other holidays</strong></p><p>(12:24 p.m.) <strong>and it’s not like i’m lonely or anything but i’m taking so much coursework that i have no time to hang out with them</strong></p><p>(12:25 p.m.) <strong>AND not to mention my attention span is that of a squirrel’s so i take twice the time to do fucking everything</strong></p><p>(12:25 p.m.) <strong>i’m so sorry for unloading everything on you but i’m just really depressed and anxious and i want everything to be over and i want so badly to just give up</strong></p><p>(12:29 p.m.) <em>i’m so sorry to hear that</em></p><p>(12:30 p.m.) <em>also, you’re absolutely fine, i’m glad you feel like you can talk to me. better with me than internalizing that shit</em></p><p>(12:33 p.m.) <em>if i’m being honest with you, i’m not sure that there’s much to be done right now in regard to this semester since we’re so close the end. all i can say is one foot in front of the other and try your best to worry about things you have to for the day, and maybe for the coming day. i promise that finals will be over before you know it and you can see your family again. please keep going, your family is waiting for you. you were strong enough to make it this far</em></p><p>(12:35 p.m.) <em>and if you feel like this a long-term thing, maybe you could go to therapy and take a break from university to work on your own health? or maybe even consider transferring to a university closer to your family?</em></p><p>(12:36 p.m.) <em>idk i’m talking out of my ass here. all i know is that i dropped out of uni for my mental health and it really helped me out a lot</em></p><p>(12:40 p.m.) <strong>i, um. i don’t know how to reply, but thanks for your answer. a lot of people have just been telling me to get over myself and i’ve just about had it with them all. maybe i’ll consider therapy idk we’ll see if i feel this shitty over the summer break</strong></p><p>(12:41 p.m.) <strong>it’s really helpful to get the perspective of someone who’s (maybe?) gone through something similar</strong></p><p>(12:42 p.m.) <strong>i feel better now, thank you</strong></p><p>(12:43 p.m.) <em>that’s the goal.  i’m here for you if you want to talk again</em></p><p>(12:44 p.m.) <strong>right, thank you again</strong></p><p>(12:45 p.m.) <em>no problem love</em></p><p>—</p><p>The first time Victoire had met Teddy was, embarrassingly enough, right after she’d finished crying to her mother about her disastrous first year at university.</p><p>Crying her heart out was great. Her ma had let her tuck herself into her shoulder, although it became a somewhat suffocating when she started crying so hard that she couldn’t breathe.</p><p>By the time Teddy walked through the door with Louis in tow, her tears had mostly all dried on her face and she wasn’t hiccupping anymore. But the first time they made eye contact, her face was tear streaked and her eyes were rimmed red.</p><p>Not exactly the best look to be wearing, was it?</p><p>“Teddy,” her mother said delightedly. “Thank you for taking Louis to the park. I’m so sorry about calling you over on a weekend, but he wouldn’t stop asking for you.” Her mother’s face transformed into something more regretful.</p><p>Victoire watched curiously as Teddy replied with a sheepish smile that seemed to be tinged with some pride, “Not at all. I enjoy spending time with Louis.”</p><p>Her mother nodded, and then shifted her body back, gesturing vaguely towards Victoire. “This is Victoire, my eldest. I’ve told you about her, and you’ve met during the holidays, right?”</p><p>Her interest piqued when she said that she talked about her. She existed outside of her own peripheries? Wild.</p><p>Teddy looked to her and she gave him a tremulous smile. After five months, she’d sort of forgotten what he looked or sounded like, blurring into soft watercolors in her mind as they opted to text as opposed to facetime or call each other.</p><p>“Hi,” he greeted her with a sweet smile.</p><p>“Do you want to stay for tea?” her mother asked, and Victoire cursed her mother. She was <em>not</em> in any mood to talk after having had talked for a good part of the last hour.</p><p>“I don’t want to intrude, Victoire just came home and…”</p><p>“You’re not intruding,” her mother cut in, already getting up to put on a kettle. That basically meant both Teddy and Victoire had lost the battle against her mother’s aggressive politeness.</p><p>In the silence that followed, Victoire could feel Teddy observing her face, and she stared exceptionally hard at the white walls so much they turned purple.</p><p>“So, talked with your mum, huh?”</p><p>Her body relaxed slightly at the fact that he’d chosen to address the elephant in the room.</p><p>“Yeah,” she admitted. “It was nice.” She paused. “My mum said she talks to you about me, what does she say?”</p><p>“Oh, not much. Nothing bad,” he reassured with a small smile. “Although, I do have to say, please don’t forget about your parents when you’re at university—they really missed you, but you didn’t talk to them much. Apparently.” He looked at her with a sardonic smile, knowing exactly why that happened.</p><p>Victoire looked down at her lap, guilty. She was saved from saying anything when her mother came back into the living room with three cups of tea on a plate.</p><p>The rest of the hour was spent with Teddy and her mother mostly talking about nothing and everything, and she was content to drink her tea and doze off on the couch.</p><p>—</p><p>Victoire blinked blearily, rubbing her eyes when they were struggled to open on their own. The sun in her face made her skin warm, but it felt really nice.</p><p>Despite having had felt sleepy yesterday at eleven o’clock at night, the moment she fell into bed, she couldn’t sleep until eight the next morning. Luckily for her, she had the rest of the summer to relax, but she felt guilty because she’d wasted away the whole day. She supposed that the habit of staying up late to finish her homework, and then getting a measly two and a half hours the next morning had stuck with her, so her body took the first chance it could to try and fix it. No matter how badly it did so.</p><p>It was a sad life that she had lived over at university. At the very least, she had three months before the next semester to get her shit together. Would she be able to do it? That was a different question entirely.</p><p>Walking into the bathroom, she pulled her shirt up from falling off her shoulder.</p><p>While brushing her teeth, she examined her hair, feeling a strand in between her fingers.</p><p>Frowning, she looked at the mop of hair on her head—it was simultaneously dry, matted, and greasy. She wasn’t one to have any sort of fashion sense, as her wardrobe only consisted of t-shirts, pants, and maybe a few dresses, but her hair meant everything to her, as she’d taken the time to grow it out and take care of it herself.</p><p>And she’d lost all of her work because she couldn’t be bothered to wash her hair for two and a half months, or hell, even shower on some days.</p><p>Fuck, it had gotten bad.</p><p>She pulled at a little, and the way her hair seemed to move in literally one piece hurt to see.</p><p>After spitting out the toothpaste, and rinsing off her toothbrush, she tried tugging it again.</p><p>Victoire looked at her face in the mirror and her face was doing that thing—she was frowning deeply, and her eyebrows were furrowing together.</p><p>She seriously <em>cannot</em> be tearing up right now. She brushed violently at her eyes, but more tears only followed.</p><p>As she was rubbing tears away from her face, a knock echoed on the bathroom door. She jumped, whirling around, and wielding her toothbrush like a weapon.</p><p>What came into sight was a slightly defensive Teddy, but mostly he looked concerned.</p><p>Lowering his arms, he said softly, “Hey. Just wanted to let you know Louis and I were home. He’s in his room right now…”</p><p>Victoire nodded, trying to act normal, but she could feel her lip quivering, looking like a sad puppy. “When did you get in? And how did you get in?”</p><p>“Just now. And your mum gave me a spare key because usually no one’s home when I pick up Louis—Minnie comes home like a half hour later.”</p><p>“Oh, okay.”</p><p>Teddy didn’t move, and Victoire stood still, as if that would help in keeping her unnoticeable.</p><p>“Everything okay? You don’t seem alright.”</p><p>She frowned more. “My hair… It’s really matted, and I’m really afraid that I have to cut it all off.”</p><p>He nodded, and she shrugged despondently. “That was all.”</p><p>“I can help. I had a similar problem a few years ago—it’s not completely a lost cause.”</p><p>She looked at him, slightly hopeful. “Really?”</p><p>Teddy nodded, smiling finally. “Yeah. I think there’s a spray bottle in the cabinet under the sink. And—” He opened the shower curtains. “—deep conditioner in the shower. Know where the combs are?”</p><p>Victoire nodded, opening up a drawer and grabbing a wide-toothed comb.</p><p>“It’ll take a <em>lot </em>of patience, but you can straighten your hair out with conditioner and water,” he told her, eying the mop on her head.</p><p>Victoire nodded, feeling a bit out of reality.</p><p>“Do you need help? You’ll have to let me touch your hair though,” he offered when she didn’t move.</p><p>She blinked and nodded sheepishly. There wasn’t much to say.</p><p>“Okay,” he replied, grabbing the spray bottle, filling it with water. “Sit on the edge of the tub—so you don’t have to stand for that long,” he added. Once she did, he sprayed some onto her hair, making it sufficiently wet.</p><p>“How is everything going, then? Finals are over, and you’re on break now. Do you feel any better?” he asked, and he put the spray bottle down on the ledge next to her.</p><p>Victoire heard him go back to the bathroom counter, presumably to grab something. Maybe conditioner? She heard him coming back, and the cover of the toilet going down.</p><p>“It feels like a shock,” she admitted. “Suddenly going from being swamped with work, and then suddenly having no work… my body’s having a hard time adjusting to everything.” She placed her hands on her knees, and she felt Teddy tugging at the ends of her hair. Her ma would have pulled at her hair without consideration for her scalp—it was all in good fun though, and they both always laughed about it afterwards.</p><p>“I get that,” he replied softly. There was a pause, and Victoire felt his arm brushing against her back, and then his hands moved up to her scalp. The conditioner was cold, but his hands were gentle in rubbing it in, and she wanted to fall asleep right then and there, despite the fact that she’d just woken up about an hour ago. “Any plans for the summer?”</p><p>“Not really…” Staring at her lap, she twisted her hands. “I meant to apply for jobs or maybe look for internships, but then time got away from me and deadlines passed me by and—”</p><p>Her breathing sped up, and her heart was constricting—why the hell didn’t she apply? She needed experience if she ever wanted to get a job out of university—who the hell would accept a graduated girl with a degree but no experience to back it up?</p><p>“Hey,” Teddy cut in. She jumped slightly when she felt some of his weight on her. “Sorry—both of my hands have conditioner on them right now and I can’t hug you properly. I promise you things will be okay, but for now let’s not talk about careers or whatever. What about things you want to do? Any hobbies you want to pick back up? Any places you want to explore?”</p><p>Oh. She hadn’t thought about that at all; she had hardly had enough space in her brain for calculus, physics, and differential equations. “Um. I guess I want to pick cooking back up. I used to like doing that.”</p><p>“Really?” he asked, and he sounded genuinely interested. Truly, Victoire didn’t know how he managed to do that—make people feel like they were really being heard. When she can’t be bothered to give a fuck, she couldn’t pretend to for the life of her. It was nice. “Any recipes you have in mind? I know some good ones, if you need help.”</p><p>And so, the conversation went on, with Teddy asking her harmless and safe questions, and Victoire trying her best to give a proper answer.</p><p>“Done,” Teddy exclaimed sometime later.</p><p>“Really?” Victoire turned around to face Teddy and blinked. “That didn’t hurt at all.”</p><p>“I tried.” He shrugged with a half-smile. “Now, let that sit in for at least an hour. And then you can comb out the tangles by sectioning off your hair, and working your way—why am I telling you this? You know, right?”</p><p>Victoire smiled at him, amused. “Yeah, I do.”</p><p>He picked himself up off the seat going to the bathroom sink, and she stood up.</p><p>“I’m actually way overdue to tutor Louis with his homework… So, you’ll be okay, right?” Teddy held his arms out.</p><p>“Yeah,” she answered, taking up his offer of a hug. Done properly, his hugs were super comforting. Finally retreating from his comforting embrace, she asked, “You tutor Louis too? Wow, my mum really won when she got you for a babysitter.”</p><p>Teddy laughed quietly. “Sure. I’ll see you later, and I’m here if you want to talk again.”</p><p>Victoire nodded. As he left, she wondered what the hell she did to get the chance to meet Teddy.</p><p>—</p><p>Victoire groaned loudly, trying to push away the mass that was on top of her body. Her eyes couldn’t even bother to open, which was a surefire sign that she hadn’t gotten enough sleep. Which was fair since she had fallen asleep at six in the morning.</p><p>She vaguely heard the sound of a huff, and then she was assaulted with a barrage of kisses on her face. A laugh escaped her throat, and she gently pushed away the small body attacking her. “Louis, stop that.”</p><p>“You need to wake up!” Louis shrieked happily. He bounced on top of her. “Wake up wake up <em>wake up</em>—”</p><p>“Okay, okay, I will,” she gave in, more laughter spilling out. “Now get off so I can brush my teeth.”</p><p>At that, Louis finally backed off, and when she looked at her face, she was met with a bright smile.</p><p>“Tori?” Louis trailed behind her.</p><p>She hummed. “Will you go shopping with us?”</p><p>Victoire paused in putting toothpaste on her toothbrush. “Us?”</p><p>“Yeah! Teddy is taking me grocery shopping. I want you to come with us!”</p><p>Evidently, she must not have looked very receptive, because Louis immediately looked like a kicked puppy. He pouted, wrapped his arms around her waist, and then said, “Please? I haven’t seen you in so long! I want to spend time with you.”</p><p>God, that was like four punches in the gut all in one. Louis really had his whole family around his finger.</p><p>She sighed, trying to make a show of being reluctant. “Okay, fine.”</p><p>Louis cheered, running off to presumably tell Teddy of the news.</p><p>After getting ready, hopefully looking somewhat presentable, she went to the kitchen. Looking at the clock hanging on the wall, she saw that it was 10:43 a.m. She got approximately four hours of sleep. That was like double the average of what she usually got.</p><p>But then double taking the time, she asked, “Teddy what are you doing here today? Actually, what are both of you doing home today?”</p><p>Teddy set down three plates, one for each of them. “Well, Louis has been on summer break for a while now, so taking care of Louis has become a bit of a full-time job.”</p><p>“Really?” Victoire asked, feeling slightly guilty for not paying attention to everything around her. Shaking off her mood, she asked, “You’re basically with Louis like for five days out of the week—do you have any time to yourself?”</p><p>He laughed. “I do have time—during the weekend, and I find time at night anyways.”</p><p>“Evidently.” Victoire raised her eyebrows at him, and he blushed, knowing exactly the interaction she was thinking of.</p><p>She smiled to herself.</p><p>“Teddy, when can we go?” Louis whined, and Victoire basically saw his feet stomping underneath the dining table.</p><p>“After you finish your pancakes,” he replied playfully, bopping Louis on the nose.</p><p>Surprisingly, that seemed to placate him, and he began to eat his breakfast in earnest.</p><p>“You’re really good with kids,” she commented, biting into a soft pancake. They were really sweet and fluffy and felt like clouds melting in her mouth.</p><p>“Kind of have to be for the job or else I’d be a bad babysitter.” He shrugged, playing with his fork. “By the way,” he continued, glancing somewhere on her shoulder, “your hair looks nice.”</p><p>Victoire beamed at him. “Thanks. I had to wash my hair a few times to get it back to looking somewhat healthy, but it’s looking better than the sad creature it was before.”</p><p>Teddy smiled at her, getting up to set his plate in the sink. At the same time, Louis exclaimed, “Finished!”</p><p>“Good. Put it in the sink please?” he asked, a request Louis listened to.</p><p>Louis was hardly the devil in disguise, but he wasn’t exactly the most well-behaved.</p><p>Or perhaps he felt more comfortable being mischievous around her, who knew?</p><p>Soon after, Victoire was finished eating too, and she placed her plate in the sink. She caught Teddy writing a note, and curiously, she wondered aloud, “What are you writing?”</p><p>“Hm? Oh, just that Minnie’s pancakes are in the fridge. They’ll be cold, but that’s what she gets for sleeping so long.” Teddy shrugged.</p><p>“You’re a stone-cold bitch, huh?”</p><p>That got another laugh out of him.</p><p>The following bus ride to the grocery store was filled with Louis asking random questions to the both of them.</p><p>Victoire usually would take the impetus to respond to Louis’ never-ending slew of questions, but she was interested in knowing how Teddy would respond. She wasn’t disappointed; Teddy laughed and played and talked to him like a friend would. It was unreal the amount of patience he had, even when Louis was getting in his space.</p><p>She looked away, her tongue poking at the inside of her cheek to keep away a smile.</p><p>After arriving at the store, a good portion of her time was spent walking around grabbing items from her half of the list. When she came back around to Teddy, she saw him bickering lightheartedly with Louis.</p><p>“Louis, no, you can’t have both the cookies and brownies,” she heard Teddy say.</p><p>“But why?” Louis’ face was obscured by Teddy’s body so she couldn’t see him, but she would bet all of her savings that he had donned his pouty face.</p><p>“We still have cookies at home. And besides, wouldn’t you rather bake them with me?” she heard, and she laughed to herself. As much as they were wrapped around Louis’ finger, he was wrapped around theirs.</p><p>Victoire approached the both of them, saying, “I have everything,” to which Teddy jumped in surprise. “Great. Louis here tried to fill up the whole basket with sweets.”</p><p>The younger boy protested at that quite loudly, and she ruffled his hair fondly. “No worries, he does this every time the family goes grocery shopping. He has such a sweet tooth—no one knows where he gets it from. Mum and Dad have more milder palettes, and both Minnie and I like to cook more than anything.”</p><p>“Sometimes kids are complete opposites of parents. Gene inheritance is weird.”</p><p>“Yeah. It might explain why Louis has dark hair instead of some mix of red or blonde.”</p><p>“Who’s objecting though? It makes him look cuter, doesn’t it?” Teddy cooed, staring at Louis, who was now standing on his tippy toes to grab a box graham crackers. He could only just barely reach it.</p><p>“Hm, it does. Actually—”</p><p>“You two are so cute,” someone commented, barely audible, as they passed.</p><p>Victoire’s face became warm.</p><p>“Everything okay?” he asked.</p><p>“Sorry, it was nothing. Do you have everything from your half of the list? We should pay for our things and go home.”</p><p>Teddy seemed interested, but he didn’t object.</p><p>Louis took Teddy’s attention again, and she was allowed to trail behind.</p><p>It was hardly something to think about, that comment. Random people got it every day, but something about her and Teddy receiving it made her curious.</p><p>What would it be like to be partners with him? It felt like it would be sweet to cuddle with him or kiss He he him. Honestly, just the idea of being a couple sounded really nice.</p><p>She shook her head. It was nice to fantasize about having a relationship, but she couldn’t get herself too deep in order to not disappoint herself when it didn’t happen.</p><p>“Tori?”</p><p>Victoire snapped out of her reverie, looking up.</p><p>“Ready to go?” Teddy was holding his hand out to her.</p><p>“Yeah,” she responded, taking his hand in her hers happily.</p><p>She could get used to this. It was much better than going insane in her dorm at university anyways.</p><p>—</p><p>“You know,” Victoire began the moment Teddy walked through the door, and Louis dashing up to his room, “I feel like I see you more than I see my own parents.”</p><p>“It’s completely possible,” Teddy laughed. “When it was just Minnie, me, and Louis, they’d usually come home around pretty late, like eleven p.m.? And that’s on a good day. A lot of the time they come home at like twelve or twelve thirty in morning. What keeps them so long?”</p><p>“Honestly, I couldn’t tell you,” she said, going back into the kitchen to watch the vegetables cook. “I think they’ve just got a lot of projects going on, but um. I’m not exactly sure what’s making them work overtime.”</p><p>“Ah, well I don’t exactly mind. Watching over Louis is fun, and it gives me time to do whatever I want,” Teddy said, making himself at home on top of the counter. “And it doesn’t hurt that I finally get to hang out with you after like five months off just texting.”</p><p>Immediately, a bright smile adorned her face. “Really? I didn’t think anyone liked me enough to be around me.”</p><p>Teddy rolled his eyes, sighing exaggeratedly. “Of course you’re likeable.” The statement was said as if it was an irrefutable fact. “Anyways, what are you making?”</p><p>“Chicken… ramen… stir fry?”</p><p>“You don’t sound too sure of yourself.”</p><p>“Ah, well, I got to thinking about food, and I began to really crave chicken and ramen… so I made this weird concoction.” Victoire gestured towards the pan, which had the general vibe of ‘started it, had a mental breakdown, bon appétit’.</p><p>“You do know that chicken ramen stir fry is an actual thing, right? Like there are actual online recipes for it.”</p><p>She paused, staring at him, and then hissed air through her teeth. “That never crossed my mind, actually. Guess we’re going to have to enjoy this for now. I’m not a horrible cook, so hopefully it’s not too bad.”</p><p>“Mind if I start eating? I’m kind of hungry…”</p><p>“Be my guest. I’ll go get Minnie and Louis…” She trailed off as she saw them coming down the stairs. “Never mind. Hello to you all.”</p><p>Louis bounded to her to give her a hug, and she reciprocated. “I haven’t seen you in a while, Min.”</p><p>Minnie smiled, but it was clear that it was forced. She didn’t like to smile much, and she always somehow looked little weird trying to smile genuinely. “It’s nice to see you too.”</p><p>Victoire sighed. Though her time at university had made her lose some contact with her family, she hadn’t forgot how she had left them.</p><p>Her little sister was the same—that was to say, she was as volatile as ever.</p><p>Honestly, it was nice to be back home. She shouldn’t be thinking about her next year at university, but it was inevitable.</p><p>Though she was deep in her thoughts, she still managed to hear a mumble.</p><p>“Sorry, what was that?” Victoire asked, looking around. She noticed everyone had already gotten their stir fry to eat, and someone—likely Teddy or Minnie—was kind enough to get her a plate as well.</p><p>“I missed you,” Minnie still mumbled, but louder. “This is nice. Even if Mum and Dad aren’t around a lot.”</p><p>“I missed you too,” Victoire replied, smiling. “Have you tried the noodles? Is it any good?”</p><p>“Teddy told me you made it without a recipe.” Did she miss a whole conversation? She wished she could say she was surprised, but it happened quite often. “So, for winging it, I guess it’s pretty good.” Minnie paused. “Would be better with some peanut butter sauce though.”</p><p>Victoire smile grew as she listened. “It’s not always good in <em>everything </em>you know. Just because you can put it in nearly every food doesn’t you should. Yogurt and peanut butter do <em>not </em>go together.”</p><p>“Fuck you, it tastes amazing!” Minnie protested loudly, throwing a spoon down onto the wooden table.</p><p>Victoire laughed, while Louis questioningly said, “Fuck?”</p><p>This was the most she felt at home since she’d gotten home. It was nice.</p><p>“You can cuss in front of us, but don’t do it in front of your parents,” Teddy reprimanded Louis.</p><p>Louis gave him a gummy grin.</p><p>Needless to say, dinner went well. It truly had been a while since Victoire had seen Minnie; it wasn’t that she was trying to avoid her younger sister, it was just that their paths had never crossed. Minnie was an eternal napper, so she often ended up waking up hours earlier than she did and doing her own thing. By the time she woke up, or at least ready to talk to people, Minnie’s social battery had already drained, and Victoire would prefer not to bother her then.</p><p>By the time dinner was well over, Minnie had gone back up to her room to either go to bed or do whatever she does, and Louis had started pestering the both of them to watch a movie.</p><p>Victoire didn’t really care either way, but Teddy was more reluctant, seeing as Louis’ bedtime was ten o’clock not on a school night.</p><p>Eventually he did give in though, and Teddy scrolled through Netflix until Louis found something he liked. When they landed on The Good Place, Victoire frowned. “Is that really appropriate for kids?”</p><p>Teddy looked at her. “Do you really care?”</p><p>She paused, sitting next to Teddy. Louis was on the floor. “No, not really. Go on.”</p><p>The first episode began, she watched on dispassionately as the cheery tune of the show began to play. “Shouldn’t you be getting home?” she asked absentmindedly.</p><p>“No… I usually stay here until your parents come back home.”</p><p>“But I’m here?”</p><p>“That’s true." Teddy didn't say anything next. He looked thoughtful. "Why didn’t your parents, like, get rid of me when you came back home? Doesn’t sound like they really need me.”</p><p>“Ah, for a few reasons, I think,” she hummed. “Not sure if you noticed, but Louis loves the hell out of you. He’d have you coming over here anyways, so there was no point in firing you. And I may have asked you to stay.”</p><p>He turned to her, looking slightly curious.</p><p>“I mean I took care of him a lot in high school, so it’s not like I forgot, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to properly take care of Louis—university really tired me out… It’s really better to have you here, to be honest.”</p><p>“Looks like I have to thank you for my job then.” Teddy smiled at her, and then caught wind of Louis. “Ah, Louis fell asleep… It’s only been like half an hour and he basically had to convince me to let him do this.”</p><p>“He does this a lot,” she told him, looking at the floor. It was true, Louis had fallen asleep straight on the floor, out like a light.</p><p>Teddy lowered the sound on the TV, getting up and leaning over Louis’ body. He sighed, “I’ll take him up to his room.”</p><p>After some shifting on the floor, Teddy finally managed to pick up Louis. </p><p>The younger boy whined for a bit, but then eventually settled his head on Teddy’s shoulders comfortably.</p><p>Victoire observed as Teddy made his way upstairs carefully. It was a strangely domestic scene, like Teddy was no longer a babysitter, and she was no longer sister to Louis.</p><p>She scrunched her nose. They were way too young to be parents, and she wasn’t keeping her promise to herself keep away from such unrealistic fantasies.</p><p>Shaking her head, she got up to pull out her couch into a makeshift bed. No one in her family knew why they had one, but it was convenient to have. She jumped on, stretching her body.</p><p>Teddy came back down a few minutes later, climbing back into his place on the couch made into a bed. “Louis wouldn’t let me leave when I put him down in his bed, so I had to cuddle him for a bit. Do you want to watch something else? Or keep watching this one?”</p><p>The Good Place didn’t really interest her, but she hummed her agreement anyways.</p><p>Teddy didn’t seem to think like her though, seeing as he was watching intently as the episode played out.</p><p>Mostly, Victoire just watched him watch the show, and it was interesting to see all of the subtle ways his face changed, and it didn’t hurt that she could spend forever tracing the soft curves of his face and jaw.</p><p>And almost literally a moment later, a fair number of episodes had gone by, and Teddy turned around to her, and she quickly shifted her gaze to seem like she was inspecting her nails.</p><p>“You don’t seem very interested in the show,” he said, and she shrugged. “I tried to watch it because my sister couldn’t stop singing its praises, but I couldn’t even get through all of season one.”</p><p>“As a self-proclaimed lover of The Good Place, that shit hurts.” Teddy put a hand on his heart and jutted his lip out.</p><p>“Fuck <em>off, </em>you know that I’m weak for pouty cute boys.” Shit, maybe she shouldn’t have said that.</p><p>Teddy didn’t pause when he replied, however. “Then your weakness for Louis makes sense then. But in all honesty, why don’t you like the show?”</p><p>“Just got too boring for me. Philosophy is not my thing.”</p><p>Teddy narrowed his eyes at her.</p><p>“Seriously, it doesn’t mean <em>that</em> much. Why do <em>you</em> like the show?”</p><p>“I’ve been caught.” Teddy shrugged smiling sheepishly. “Sorry, it’s just that the show has a special place in my heart. Sometimes Eleanor’s character development might not be that subtle, but I really see myself in Eleanor. And it’s really nice to see because Eleanor isn’t coddled, but she isn’t treated like a villain, just someone who has a lot of room to grow.”</p><p>Victoire tilted her head, repeating to herself, “See yourself in Eleanor, huh? I don’t remember much about the show, but Eleanor was a pretty horrible person, and feel free to correct me, but… you just don’t seem like it?”</p><p>“I mean… I’m not <em>exactly</em> like Eleanor, but I understand a lot of her character especially since she comes from a similar background to myself.”</p><p>Curiously, she asked, “And… what is that, exactly?”</p><p>Teddy blinked. “Right, you haven’t watched the entire show. They don’t say it explicitly, but I’m pretty sure that they strongly imply Eleanor was neglected and or abused as a child? And that’s primarily one of the biggest reasons why she turned out the way she did.”</p><p>Victoire paused. She was buzzing from the fact that she was trusted enough for him to tell her that. “But like… I get that maybe abuse victims <em>do</em> turn out like Eleanor did, but shouldn’t you have more, well, positive representations of abuse victims?”</p><p>“I mean, it doesn’t always have to be like that though. It’s nice to see characters who are kind and good and nice after all that they’ve gone through, but the reality is that it just isn’t always like that,” Teddy told her frustratedly. In his frustration, his voice had gotten slightly louder, and she gestured for him to come closer to her, so he didn’t have to be loud. He moved nearer to her, and this was the closest that they had been the whole night.</p><p>“What is the reality, then?”</p><p>“That most of us are angry and sometimes not so good people,” he admitted quietly, leaning into her. Instinctively, she put her arm around her, and he relaxed slightly.</p><p>“What does this have to do with the show? I’m not seeing the connection here, but like I said, I haven’t even gotten to season two.”</p><p>“The overarching theme of the whole show is that you <em>can</em> become a better person through action and intention, and you don’t have to be who people say you are. Eleanor has been called a bad person so many times that she believed it until the day she died, but eventually she earnestly tried to be a better person, and she <em>did</em> become a better person. And better yet, it like, actively enforces that action and intention is <em>all</em> that’s required to be a good person, and that’s something really important to me.”</p><p>Victoire nodded thoughtfully. “But wait, what else do people think is required to be a better person?”</p><p>Teddy sighed a long-suffering sigh. “Emotional empathy? I don’t know. It doesn’t make any sense to me since I have pretty low empathy, but I’m able to be a semi-decent person, which goes to show that a lack of emotional empathy doesn’t exactly mean a skewed sense of morals or that suddenly you’ll go out and murder people—it’s all based on dumb horror movie tropes, I promise it’s not all like that.”</p><p>“I believe you,” she told him sincerely. “If I’m being honest with you, this is the first time I’ve ever even considered it because it never crossed my mind.”</p><p>“I’m not sure it crosses a lot of people’s minds, actually, unless you’re like me or really like psychology.” He shrugged.</p><p>“So…” She trailed off. “I’m guessing this means I really watch The Good Place then?”</p><p>Teddy picked up his head off her shoulder. “Why would it?”</p><p>“Clearly because you like it, and I want to be able to understand you better.”</p><p>He didn’t reply to her, only staring at her with a weird look on his face, like he was considering something. “Can I…” He shook his head.</p><p>He didn’t finish his sentence, but her brain did it for her, chiming in with, <em>can I kiss you?</em> That was a ridiculous notion, however.</p><p>“Never mind,” he said to her. “Sorry, I just can count on my one hand how many people have said that to me… so it means a lot. Thanks.” He settled his head back on her shoulder, making himself more comfortable. “Want to start from the beginning?”</p><p>“Yeah, sure,” she said, placing her head on top of his. This was nice. She wanted to be able to do it for as long as she can.</p><p>—</p><p>(12:12 p.m.) <em>hi, i’m so sorry for leaving you</em></p><p>(12:13 p.m.) <strong>been a while since we’ve texted, huh?</strong></p><p>(12:13 p.m.) <strong>it’s okay. what happened though?</strong></p><p>(12:14 p.m.) <em>you’re mom came home</em></p><p>(12:14 p.m.) <em>*****your</em></p><p>(12:14 p.m.) <em>wouldn’t look very good if she saw me cuddling her daughter</em></p><p>(12:15 p.m.) <em>still need a job you see</em></p><p>(12:16 p.m.) <strong>ah, that’s fair</strong></p><p>(12:16 p.m.) <strong>wouldn’t exactly look good for you, would it?</strong></p><p>(12:17 p.m.) <strong>also i reallyyyy don’t want to find out my mom’s reaction to that especially when we’re not dating!!!!!</strong></p><p>(12:17 p.m.) <strong>also</strong></p><p>(12:17 p.m.) <strong>why are you not here today? :^(</strong></p><p>(12:18 p.m.) <em>tori</em></p><p>(12:18 p.m.) <em>it’s the weekend</em></p><p>(12:18 p.m.) <em>i don’t work on the weekends?</em></p><p>(12:18 p.m.) <strong>omg</strong></p><p>(12:19 p.m.) <strong>i didn’t realize at all, my bad</strong></p><p>(12:19 p.m.) <strong>you’ll be back Monday?</strong></p><p>(12:20 p.m.) <em>as always :^)</em></p><p>—</p><p>Victoire knew that it wasn’t going to be a good day when she woke up with her heart racing and sweat pooling on her forehead.</p><p>She wished she could say that she didn’t remember the nightmare she had, but she remembered it perfectly down to every single detail.</p><p>It was quite mundane, to be honest, but the dream made its impact on her, seeing as it just about her reliving her worst week at university.</p><p>Not much happened but so many projects were due that week, and one particularly intimidating project was looming over her that she had cried herself to sleep nearly every night, and one particular night she was plagued with such strong sleep anxiety that she nearly gouged her own eyes out.</p><p>Anxiety churned in her stomach at the thought of that week. She thought she put it out of her mind the moment she finished the spring semester.</p><p>How fucking lucky of her that her brain chose <em>now</em> of all things to remember her dreams when it previously had no recollection of the dreams she had when she was asleep.</p><p>Sighing, she did her morning turned late afternoon routine, and then went down, making herself into a tiny ball at the sofa.</p><p>Victoire didn’t know why she got up in the first place, seeing as she had no plans to go out or do anything today. She should’ve just gone back to bed—now she was just left with all the thoughts that flickered through her mind.</p><p>She didn’t understand. Before she went off to university, she was doing perfectly fine. Maybe she wasn’t the happiest person ever to exist, but she was well-adjusted and could self-regulate herself pretty well.</p><p>But then university came around, and her mental health took a large hit. Not that she didn’t understand why that happened, everything was pretty much a perfect set up for her suffering, but it was… this.</p><p>She didn’t understand why she felt so affected by it even when the threat of university had passed for the time being.</p><p>Why did she get such strong anxiety even when a flash of that week made its way to the front of her mind?</p><p>Blinking, her attention was briefly caught when Minnie had bounced onto the spot next to her, a cup of something in her hands. Assuming that Minnie had taken to scroll through social medias on her phone, she closed her eyes.</p><p>Maybe she really should have gone back to bed after cleaning herself off.</p><p>“Tori?”</p><p>Opening her eyes again, she sat herself up straight. “Yeah?” she asked, rubbing her eyes. She’d been in bed for thirteen hours, and yet she felt like she slept for only three of them.</p><p>Victoire looked to the other girl, who looked a little pensive. “You never told me about spring semester went. You promised to tell me.”</p><p>“Oh. I…” Frankly, she was hoping Minnie had forgotten. “Sorry, it didn’t cross my mind it all.”</p><p>“I figured.” Minnie looked at her thoughtfully. “Was it good? Did you do anything fun?”</p><p>Victoire shrugged. “Not really.” She surmised that she probably shouldn’t talk about the time she got super fucking drunk and stole a traffic cone over two shitty test grades. <em>Especially </em>not within the vicinity of her mother. She wouldn’t be pissed about the drinking, she was of age, but she would be pissed about the fact that she had made bad decisions while drunk.</p><p>Minnie was quiet for a moment. “Did everything go alright? Is everything okay?”</p><p>“Not… really,” she admitted quietly. “It was… really bad. I had a lot of anxiety for most of it and…” Her throat was closing up, and she absolutely didn’t want to cry in front of her younger sister.</p><p>Minnie seemed incredibly uncomfortable at the sight of her sad face, but held her arms out anyways, offering a hug.</p><p>Victoire leaned in, tucking her head into her shoulder. She sniffled for a bit, still a bit overtaken by an array of emotions mixed with anxiety.</p><p>“I’m sorry, I’m not really good at this. I wish I had something to say to you, but I’m kind of at a loss…” She could picture the grimace on Minnie’s face vividly.</p><p>“No, it’s okay,” she said. “Thanks for being here.”</p><p>“I mean… you could call Teddy?”</p><p>She picked up her head from her shoulder. “What?” she asked, wiping away at her eyes.</p><p>“Call Teddy? He seemed like he’d be able to help you better than I could.” Minnie shrugged.</p><p>“Why would you say that?” Victoire frowned.</p><p>“I don’t know. You seemed to be really close with him. You’ve been hanging out a lot with him when he’s taking care of Louis, and I saw him that day…” Minnie paused, scrunching her face together in deep thought. “I think he was helping you brush your hair and you looked like a kicked puppy…” She put her hands up at the glare Victoire sent her. “Just describing what I saw. But, uh, I think he could help you.”</p><p>She picked at her nails. Despite having texted quite frequently, she’d never purposefully reached out to Teddy, except that one time she’d talked about how much she was struggling with exams. Even then, it was Teddy who had texted to check in on her. Her confession had been unexpected for the both of them, but Teddy was extremely comforting and understanding. So maybe it wouldn’t hurt…</p><p>“Okay,” she punched out.</p><p>Minnie smiled, a little awkward. “Glad to hear it. Hey, and um… I’m here if you need to talk…”</p><p>“Thanks,” she said, smiling tremulously. Minnie was an awkward, fumbling, and prideful thirteen-year-old, as all thirteen-year-olds nearly are, so this meant a lot to her.</p><p>Victoire went back up to her room, grabbing her phone before flopping onto her bed.</p><p>She hesitated when she saw the call button on Teddy’s contact, but she squeezed her eyes closed and pressed the button.</p><p>Putting the phone up to her ear, she picked on her lip, and then stopped abruptly. If she chewed too much on her lip, it would get chapped, or worse—start bleeding.</p><p>Snapping out of her reverie, she realized that Teddy had been calling her name for a while, and she rushed to say, “Um, hey, Teddy. Sorry, I spaced out for a bit there.”</p><p>“No, it’s fine. Everything alright?” Teddy asked. His voice sounded pleasant and calming, like he had all the time in the world.</p><p>“Um,” she waffled, debating whether she should lie and say that Louis was asking to see him, or just come out with what she was dealing with. “I’m sorry for calling you unprompted but, um, I’ve been anxious all day, and… can I talk to you? I don’t know what else to do and you’re the first person I thought of…” Technically she thought of dealing with it by herself, but semantics.</p><p>“No, don’t be sorry,” Teddy said on the other side. There was some shuffling noises. “I’m glad you called.” He sounded oddly pleased. “Do you want to talk over phone? Or do you want to come over?”</p><p>Actually, that last option sounded awfully tempting, even though she only wanted to talk to him through the call. Seeing him in person and getting to hug him sounded so much better.</p><p>“I want to come over,” she replied, maybe a little to eagerly.</p><p>“I live nearby to you,” he said. “Just a fifteen-minute walk away. I’ll text you the address. Sound good?”</p><p>“Yeah,” she agreed, ending the call, and slipping off her bed.</p><p>After getting properly ready, hassling her mum about going out to see a friend, and trekking over to the address on her phone, she was finally at Teddy’s. Knocking on the door, she waited whilst twisting her hands.</p><p>The door swung open, and Teddy was in front of her.</p><p>“Hi,” Victoire greeted, walking through the entrance when Teddy gestured for her to come in. “Sorry again for calling you like that unexpectedly.”</p><p>Immediately, her gaze flitted around Teddy’s home, taking everything in. It was small and cozy and lived in. It wasn’t immaculate, and strangely enough it reminded her of the girls she lived with at university. Classes may have sucked but seeing what the girls she lived with had gotten up to was the highlight of her day.</p><p>“Sorry for the mess.”</p><p>“It’s fine, I like it. It looks like it’s nice to live in.”</p><p>Teddy laughed. “Thanks. Want anything to eat? Or drink?”</p><p>“What do you have?” she asked by instinct.</p><p>“Hm, I have leftover pasta—I went out with a few friends last night and wasn’t able to eat everything so…” Teddy shrugged, going to his fridge.</p><p>“No, no, you don’t have to give me your food,” she rushed out, but seeing as he had already grabbed the pasta and two forks, it was useless.</p><p>He went to sit at the couch, and she followed closely, flopping down next to him.</p><p>Teddy handed her a fork, and she took it delicately, stabbing it in the bowl of pasta when he offered.</p><p>“Kill it harder why don’t you?” he joked, and Victoire rolled her eyes. “Do you see your friends often then?” she asked.</p><p>Teddy looked at her, raising an eyebrow, but he answered anyways. It was a valid question. To her it seemed he never left her house, so the fact that he had his own seemed rather useless. “Hm, not like every day since they go to university but maybe every two weeks. It’s nice, since they’re all either doing medicine or engineering. Such busy bees, they are.”</p><p>“Ah, that’s lucky,” she said. “How long have you known them for?"</p><p>“Ah, I think about four years? We met in college when we were all doing A-levels. Fun times.”</p><p>“Nice,” she remarked, taking another swirl of pasta on her fork. “Not all of us lucky enough to keep them when we all eventually go to different universities or places or whatever.”</p><p>“That’s true, but we all ended up going to the same university anyways. We were incredibly lucky.”</p><p>Victoire paused. If Teddy was going to university, how the fuck does he have all that time for Louis?</p><p>Seeing the clear questions on her expression, he added, “I don’t go to university anymore remember?”</p><p>“Oh,” she said lamely. “I forgot.”</p><p>He shrugged, smiling. “Happens to the best of us.”</p><p>“So…” she said, trailing off. “Do you regret it?”</p><p>“Sorry?”</p><p>“Do you regret dropping out of university? Are you happier?”</p><p>Teddy didn’t reply immediately, playing with his food. “I don’t know. I dropped out because I…” He stopped, blinking rapidly. He didn’t speak for a few minutes, looking like he was spacing out.</p><p>“Teddy?” she called softly, putting a hand on his shoulder gently.</p><p>He snapped out of his reverie, looking at her blankly.</p><p>“You don’t have to tell me, you know,” she told him, hoping she sounded comforting.</p><p>“No, no, I want to tell you,” he said. “It’s nothing incriminating, I just got caught up in things. I was in a really bad relationship for the better part of a year, and everything—living, school, even waking up—got really overwhelming, and it seemed useless to continue university at that point. I had to hop from couch to couch for a while because university housing was my only home, but eventually was able to hold down a stable job and get myself a somewhat decent apartment.”</p><p>Victoire frowned. “Babysitting Louis? I don’t imagine you get paid much…”</p><p>“Your mum pays me for taking care of Louis and tutoring him, so in the end it’s not like it’s chump change or whatever. And no, it wasn’t my first job, it was at a corner store—I still work there. I needed more money, so I offered to babysit… your mother was the first one to ask me and I accepted because she seemed nice.”</p><p>“Fucking bitch,” she cussed vehemently, “<em>I </em>took care of Louis for eighteen years and I never got paid anything!”</p><p>He laughed loudly, slapping his thigh.</p><p>“Well, whatever, it’s all in the past now. You never answered the question, by the way,” she reminded.</p><p>“You’re not going to like my answer to be honest, because the truth is that I don’t know. I’m feeling… kind of lost, and I need to think a little about what makes me happy. But I’m not in any immediate danger anymore and that’s good enough for me right now. I’m not sure why you’re asking. Maybe you’re thinking of dropping out, but you shouldn’t base your answer on how it’s ended up for me. Make your own decisions for what’s good for your wellbeing, you know?”</p><p>Victoire nodded. “I understand. I’m not really sure what would make me happy. I don’t think dropping out would make me any happier but thinking about next year makes me anxious. The thought of being that stressed again makes my tummy hurt.” She cringed for a moment at her childish choice of words.</p><p>“Is that why you came here today? Because you were anxious about school?” Teddy took her hand in his, and she was distracted for a moment by how soft and small his hands were in hers.</p><p>“Um, no,” she said, blinking. “Well, kind of. There was this one really bad week last semester and I had a nightmare about it, so I’ve been really on edge.” She leaned back, huffing. “I don’t understand why it’s got me so fucked up. I mean realistically, it wasn’t that <em>bad</em>, it was just one week…”</p><p>Teddy looked at her, his expression some mix of emotions—but anger was the most apparent.</p><p>Victoire shied away, wary.</p><p>“I’m not angry at you,” he clarified. “I am but I’m not—” He put a hand up, seemingly to stop himself. “Sorry. But I understand feeling like whatever you experienced was something everyone could handle—but you have to realize whether you drown in six feet of water or twenty feet, you still drowned. You’re allowed to be hurt. Trauma is almost always specific to the person—you can’t choose what you’re traumatized by. It’s okay, I promise. I felt that same way about my abusive relationship, but in the end, it turned out I was really fucked up by it. I’m happy you’re still here. I’m proud of you for not giving up.”</p><p>Victoire gave him a look. He seemed concerned as he leaned forward, and held her face in her hands, thumbs brushing away at something wet. She blinked, and oh, she was crying.</p><p>Teddy’s face was pure compassion, and that made her cry a little harder. He wrapped his arms around her, and she protested, “You don’t need to hug me, I’m fine—” She cut off when she felt her hair had been pushed away for his hands to rub her back. So instead she relented her protests and laid her forehead on his shoulder.</p><p>They both stayed in that position for a while, and she was starting to feel that Teddy had closed his eyes or something—he was still and unmoving except for the hand that was softly moving up and down her back. </p><p>Sniffling, she moved away from Teddy. “Sorry,” she muttered.</p><p>“It’s fine,” he brushed off. He laughed a bit. “You got my favorite shirt wet…”</p><p>At that, she finally took notice of his attire, seeing that he was wearing a flannel button up, a t-shirt that was a bit too short (a crop top?) and black sweatpants. And true to his word, there was a wet patch on the shoulder of his shirt. “Sorry,” she said again regretfully.</p><p>“Don’t worry about it,” he reassured. “It can be washed, it’s fine. You’re more important to me than a shirt.”</p><p>“Keep validating me like that and I promise we’ll be kissing by the end of the night,” Victoire joked, slightly uncomfortable. Possibly not the best decision she made, but the words had already left her mouth.</p><p>She’d never met someone so kind and sincere in her life outside of her family.</p><p>Teddy snorted. “I don’t think I’d really mind.”</p><p>She stopped every motion of her body; her mind had short circuited.</p><p>Shaking her head, she could only get out an, “Um.”</p><p>Teddy seemed to realize that he had affected her in some way, and tried to rectify, “I’m sorry, that was out of line.”</p><p>“Damn, shut up, we’re so past the phase of being awkward around each other. We basically bulldozed past that when you sent that—”</p><p>“Okay, okay, I get it,” he said, eyes widening in horror. He really was hellbent on forgetting that incident, huh?</p><p>Victoire bit her lip to keep away a smile. “Do you mean that?”</p><p>“Mean what?”</p><p>“That you wouldn’t mind kissing me.”</p><p>Teddy suddenly seemed shy, his hand instinctively going to the back of his neck. “I mean, yes? I kind of like you a lot.”</p><p>“Kind of?”</p><p>“I like you a lot.”</p><p>Victoire nodded, satisfied with his answer. “I like you too,” she said, taking her hand in his.</p><p>“You do?” he asked delightedly, admiring his hands in hers.</p><p>“Can I kiss you?”</p><p>Teddy blinked, clearly not expecting that from her. “I really want to, I promise, but I think it should wait until later.”</p><p>“What, why?”</p><p>“Listen, with all due respect, you came here to talk to me because you were anxious about school, and forgive me if this is offensive, but I don’t think that’s exactly a good backdrop for a kiss?”</p><p>Victoire conceded, nodding to herself. “I will get that kiss one way or another.”</p><p>“I’ll hold you to that, then,” Teddy replied, an amused smile tugging at his lips.</p><p>—</p><p>“What the fuck dude,” Victoire balked.</p><p>“What?” Teddy asked, laughing. He flopped back into her bed.</p><p>“I don’t understand, how the fuck did you make out what my shitty drawing was? I had like fifteen seconds to draw it and ten of those was spent looking up the picture.”</p><p>“It’s a pretty memorable picture—everybody knows the iconic poster of Lindsay Lohan advertising Mean Girls.”</p><p>“Clearly not me, I guess,” she muttered to herself.</p><p>“Or maybe it’s just me,” Teddy said. “I mean there are just some things that I’d notice even if they were as… curious as yours.”</p><p>"You can say shitty, you know,” Victoire told him matter-of-factly, and Teddy smiled sheepishly. “What else would you recognize, then?”</p><p>He pondered the question for a moment thoughtfully. “Pikachu and Eevee, I think.”</p><p>“I know what Pikachu is, but what’s Eevee?”</p><p>Teddy gave her a strange look. “You didn’t play Pokémon when you were younger?”</p><p>Victoire shrugged apathetically. “Not really. Never played, or even see the live action movie.”</p><p>“Really?” he asked, incredulity in his tone. He sat up on the bed, pulling out his phone and tapping away. “Pokémon was, like, my entire childhood. It was the one good thing I had.”</p><p>“Here, look. It’s Eevee,” he said excitedly, showing her the picture on his phone. Victoire smiled, endeared by his joy for Pokémon. “It looks like a rabbit. Kind of.”</p><p>“And look,” he continued, showing her a green bird like creature. “Rowlet is one of my other favorite Pokémon. What I would do just to be able to take care of one…”</p><p>“Rowlet is quite relaxing to look at too.”</p><p>“Yeah,” he agreed, “it’s the reason it’s one of my comfort shows.”</p><p>“Maybe we should do a movie marathon. Maybe that movie we saw the other day sucked, but I think these’ll be better.”</p><p>“Oh, why?”</p><p>“Because you suggested them.” Victoire looked at him as if it was obvious. “We could get soda and popcorn… Ever tried popcorn with M&amp;Ms?”</p><p>“No?”</p><p>“It’s<em> really</em> good. Are there Pokémon foods too? Deviled eggs shaped like a Pikachu?”</p><p>“Ugh, I hate boiled eggs.”</p><p>“Cupcakes?”</p><p>“It’s easy to do pokéball cupcakes—you’ve seen them, right?”</p><p>“Or… sweet rice crispy balls? I forget what they were called, but those are pretty fun to make as well. And… anything related to chimichangas?”</p><p>“What are those?” Teddy laid down on her bed, and she watched as he did so. He made himself comfortable, laying on his side and tucking an arm between his legs and one under his head.</p><p>“They’re basically like a fried burrito. The ones I buy are notoriously shitty but, like, in a tasty way. They’re so, so good. I need to buy more when we go back to the store, I think. Honestly, there’s just something about low quality junk food though. Not very good for the body but good for the <em>soul</em>.”</p><p>“Yes,” he agreed happily, “I feel the same way about most pies.”</p><p>“Pies? What kind?”</p><p>“Store bought. I know people like to make them, but store bought is… so good for some reason.” Teddy sighed dreamily, presumably thinking about having some, like she thought about eating chimichangas.</p><p>“I tried the small ones. Pumpkin though. Which is weird because I usually like apple. I guess they just have good pumpkin pie?”</p><p>“Maybe they do? I’ve never tried it,” he admitted.</p><p>Victoire looked at him, initially to feign shock, but she was endeared by catching his side profile. His hair was fluffy, and his eyes were closed, a smile on his face. He seemed so… content. This was the first time they’d gotten the chance to hang out without the presence of her parents or the job of taking care of Louis—he was sleeping over at a friend's house for the night—and she wasn’t there to talk about her personal problems whatsoever.</p><p>She smiled to herself. This was the most peaceful she had ever felt, and Teddy seemed so comfortable in her bed. It made her happy. He always seemed so comfortable in the living room of her home, but never in her room.</p><p>She wondered what the reason was, but she wasn’t going to question his fears. Instead she moved herself closer to the bedpost and stretched out her legs.</p><p>Softly, she brushed away a lock of hair that was in front of his eyes. Now how the fuck were his eyelashes that long? He must have sold his soul for it. It reminded her of when she used to make wishes on her own fallen lashes.</p><p>Her gaze moved lower. Why were his lips so pretty? They look like they’d be nice to kiss—she really wanted to.</p><p>She blinked when he opened his eyes to look at her.</p><p>“What are you looking at?” He smiled up at her.</p><p>Victoire sighed and laid down on her side to face him properly.</p><p>“You,” she answered, smiling. Pushing away another strand of hair from his face, she continued, “You’re very pretty, you know.”</p><p>Teddy laughed, covering his face.</p><p>“Anyone ever tell you that?”</p><p>He laughed some more. “Yes, but not by people I like.”</p><p>Victoire snorted.</p><p>“What? It’s true. They’re usually strangers anyways.”</p><p>“You know,” she said, pulling herself closer to him, “you still haven’t kissed me, and you promised.”</p><p>“If <em>I </em>remember correctly, you were the one that promised <em>me</em> a kiss,” Teddy retorted, swinging a leg over her hip, effectively settling himself on top of her.</p><p>Victoire made a surprised noise at the direct move, and he moved away. “Too forward?” he asked, looking regretful.</p><p>“No, not at all, you just surprised me is all,” she laughed, wrapping her arms his neck. Actually, she was pretty unsure about what to do in situations like these—she’d never gotten this close with anyone before. Granted they still haven’t kissed yet, so… "Actually, I liked it—"</p><p>He cut her off again with his lips, and damn, she <em>was</em> right about them being nice to kiss. It took her by surprise, and she was easily turning into putty under his touch but she kissed back enthusiastically, her hands moving lower. A giddy giggle rose up in her throat.</p><p>A surprised noise came from him and he pulled away.</p><p>“What?” she asked, concerned.</p><p>“I just wasn’t…” Teddy looked like he was distracted. “Do you even notice that you’re doing it?”</p><p>“Doing what?” Victoire frowned.</p><p>“Your hands…” His voice sounded far away.</p><p>She paused. Her hands were only rubbing a pattern into his hips. Smiling, she asked, “Do you like that?”</p><p>“A lot, please keep doing it,” he pleaded, collapsing on top of her. Teddy kissed her briefly on the collarbone, sending a small jolt of shock down her spine.</p><p>Victoire turned them both over to the side so her chest wasn’t hurting, one of his legs still around her body.</p><p>His head was right beneath her chin, and he hummed, satisfied.</p><p>She couldn’t really tell, but she was pretty sure that his eyes were closed.</p><p>Victoire could honestly see herself in a relationship with him; the cuddling was a huge plus, and she liked that he really seemed to be into physical affection.</p><p>She couldn’t say that she was against or for affection, but she found it pretty telling of whether a relationship—platonic or romantic—would work out if they had good hug… chemistry.</p><p>If that was a thing.</p><p>That was why she got along so well with her roommate.</p><p>She wondered for a moment if this would work long enough for them to see themselves actually living together and having kids…</p><p>Okay, but if she was being honest, the only kid she was whipped for was her brother—every other kid, though she’d be nothing but kind to them, was kind of gross.</p><p>And not to mention, if she didn’t want this relationship to end before it even fucking started, they’d have to break it to their parents. Her dad would most likely be chill with it, and her mother would be fine too ordinarily, if it weren’t for the fucking fact Teddy took care of her brother.</p><p>“Hey,” she began, and Teddy hummed in response. “When do you think you won’t need this job? Babysitting, I mean.”</p><p>Teddy pulled away from her so that his answer wasn’t just mumbled into her neck. “Um, I think probably if I go back to university. I mean, I’ll need money, but I’m guaranteed not to have that much time for Louis anymore.” He grimaced. “Or when I get a better paying job. Chances are I’m staying as long as your mother needs me, though.”</p><p>“So, they won’t know about us—at least for a while, then.”</p><p>“I’m sorry,” he said, supporting himself on his elbow to look at her properly. “I just… really need to pay rent and afford food, and…”</p><p>“No, no, I understand. I’ll move on eventually.”</p><p>“Thanks,” he sighed. He didn’t say anything for a moment. “I didn’t realize we were something though.”</p><p>There was an awkward silence.</p><p>“<em>Fuck</em>, that was what I forgot to ask you.”</p><p>Teddy laughed quietly. “Oh my god, you really are something else.”</p><p>“So?”</p><p>“So what?”</p><p>“Will you date me?”</p><p>“Yes,” he replied, sounding satisfied. “Nothing would make me happier.”</p><p>Victoire opened her mouth to say something, but there was a noise downstairs—of the front door opening and closing.</p><p>Teddy shot up, looking at her, alarmed. “Is that your fucking mother?”</p><p>“I think it might be, yeah.” She frowned. “My parents aren’t home this early though…”</p><p>He scrambled out of her bed, gathering the things that he’d brought with him. “Fuck, I needed to leave, like, ten minutes ago. I can’t be seen by your parents!”</p><p>“Shit,” she muttered. “Um, the layout of his house is weird but, basically you could escape—”</p><p>“Right,” he said, brightening up. “There’s the set of stairs I could go down without being seen by them… right?”</p><p>Victoire nodded.</p><p>“I’m so sorry to cut this short,” he whispered. “I wish I could stay longer.”</p><p>She brushed it off. “Next time it’s probably better for me to go over your house. Sorry for risking it.”</p><p>Teddy sighed, rolling his eyes. “I came here because I wanted to, you know.” He approached her, and kissed her on the cheek, and she turned to quickly press a soft kiss on his lips.</p><p>A lovely blush took over his cheeks, and Victoire giggled, knowing she’d be thinking about it for days to come.</p><p>A little while later, after she’d talked to her parents, she went up to get ready for bed.</p><p>Closing the curtains, she swept over the view beyond the window, and squinted when she saw something she couldn’t recognize.</p><p>Smiling nervously when she realized exactly what the hell it was, she texted Teddy.</p><p>(12:49 p.m.) <strong>teddy</strong></p><p>(12:49 p.m.) <strong>did you get home safe?</strong></p><p>(12:50 p.m.) <em>yes, i made it home just fine</em></p><p>(12:50 p.m.) <em>:^)</em></p><p>(12:51 p.m.) <strong>forget anything here?  </strong></p><p>(12:51 p.m.) <em>no?</em></p><p>(12:51 p.m.) <em>not that i know of?</em></p><p>(12:52 p.m.) <strong>ahahahahahahahahaahaha</strong></p><p>(12:52 p.m.) <strong>well i am about to ruin your night</strong></p><p>(12:52 p.m.) <strong>you left your bike out on the driveway</strong></p><p>(12:53 p.m.) <strong>and most likely my parents saw it</strong></p><p>(12:53 p.m.) <strong>so any ideas on how we’re going to break it to my parents?</strong></p><p>(12:56 p.m.) <em>FUCK</em></p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i love reading romance. writing it is fun. but if i never have to write two people kiss again, i'd be happy. </p><p>also this is like my second most personal thing next to glass. weird.</p><p>(psst i don't own pokemon or the good place or mean girls)</p><p>p.s. teddy does get to keep his babysitting job. it did make it pretty clear that he needs it, and it would be pretty cruel to keep that of all things hanging up in the air lol.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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